“Hangxiety” and Liquid Courage: How Alcohol Can Affect Your Self-Esteem and Mental Health

Some people drink alcohol to have the courage to step outside their comfort zone. For example, they might drink alcohol before asking someone out on a date. This might give the false impression that alcohol raises self-esteem.

People with alcohol use disorder are more likely to have low self-esteem. But it isn’t clear which is true: Does drinking alcohol lower your self-esteem, or do people with low self-esteem turn to alcohol?

In general, though, alcohol use — especially excessive alcohol use — can have a negative impact on your self-esteem. It can also keep you locked in a cycle that’s difficult to break out of.

What are the many ways that alcohol affects your self-esteem? 

You may have had the experience of feeling very confident while you’re under the influence of alcohol. This is a common experience that leads many to think that alcohol improves their self-esteem. 

But the truth is that using alcohol — especially over the long term — can actually hurt your self-esteem and mental health. This is in addition to the many physical damages it can cause.

While you’re drinking: Temporary confidence

Often, people experience a temporary rise in confidence while they’re drinking. The effects of alcohol may make their anxiety and fears temporarily go away. Alcohol also lowers your inhibition, the feeling that holds you back from acting on your impulses. This causes you to do things that you wouldn’t do sober.

This is largely due to how alcohol affects the brain. Drinking alcohol gives you a flood of dopamine, a brain chemical that’s associated with pleasure. It also affects your prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for controlling your inhibitions. 

Because of this, alcohol lowers stress and anxiety for many people in the short term. It can even make them feel temporarily confident. But what are alcohol’s effects on self-esteem? Let’s look at what we know from the research.

The link between alcohol and self-esteem

Some studies have found a positive relationship between alcohol and self-esteem. But this was mostly connected to current drinking. Often, these results were found in settings like universities, where using alcohol may be socially expected. 

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One study found that people who were currently using alcohol reported higher self-esteem than people who abstained. However, the study didn’t measure self-esteem based on how much these participants were currently drinking. It’s possible that people currently using excessive amounts of alcohol had lower self-esteem. 

Lifetime excessive drinkers were more likely to report low self-esteem. This could suggest that alcohol might raise self-esteem while drinking but could have a negative effect in the long run.

On top of this, other studies have found that people with higher self-esteem tend to drink less to begin with. This might be because self-esteem and alcohol tend to become tangled up in a cycle. People with low self-esteem may be more likely to use alcohol. But as they become more and more addicted to alcohol, their self-esteem may take a hit — leading them to depend on alcohol, and so on.

So what does this mean? Here are two takeaways:

• Alcohol may provide a temporary boost of confidence, especially for people with already low self-esteem. 

• People who already have high self-esteem aren’t as likely to need alcohol to give them this confidence boost.

The next day: “Hangxiety”

The day after you drink alcohol, you could experience what’s described as “hangxiety,” or hangover anxiety. This is the strong anxiety that some people feel as alcohol is leaving their system.

Anxiety is a common symptom of withdrawal after severe long-term alcohol use. Hangxiety is a mild form of this symptom. 

This anxiety is partly caused by how alcohol affects the brain. Alcohol suppresses many brain functions. You might feel your anxiety symptoms get better temporarily. Alcohol can also mimic GABA activity in your brain. GABA is a neurotransmitter (chemical messenger) that decreases brain activity. But when the effects of alcohol wear off, your anxiety could come back stronger than ever. 

Hangxiety could also be caused by worries about your behavior while drunk. Many people think back on the night before with feelings of worry and dread about how they may have acted in front of others. If you’re afraid you may have acted inappropriately, then your anxiety could spike.

Given that anxiety can affect your self-esteem, you might find that your self-esteem takes a hit the morning after a night of drinking.

What is “liquid courage,” and how is it different from self-esteem?

Some people refer to the temporary confidence boost that alcohol provides them as “liquid courage.” In other words, alcoholic beverages give them the courage to do things that they’d ordinarily be too frightened or anxious to do.

For example, you might have the courage to talk to someone you find attractive while drinking but would never consider it while sober. You could also make poor decisions, like starting fights with people.

The question is: Is liquid courage the same thing as self-esteem? To answer this question, we can look at the definition of self-esteem: how positively you see yourself. 

One could argue that using alcohol does not promote true self-awareness. So it doesn’t contribute to your idea of yourself. And the confidence boost that you get from alcohol is temporary and fragile. True self-esteem and self-worth are stable. They don’t go away when you stop using alcohol.

To use alcohol as liquid courage is to use it as a crutch. Crutches like this can be harmful and contribute overall depression and anxiety. For example, if you have social anxiety disorder, using alcohol as liquid courage is considered a safety behavior. Safety behaviors may relieve anxiety in the moment, but they usually lead to more anxiety in the future.

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Written by:

N. Saya Des Marais, MSW

Saya is a masters-level social worker, mental health clinician, trainer, and mental health content writer. She's worked as a therapist and trainer at public schools, community mental health clinics, and digital health start-ups.

Reviewed by:

Emily Guarnotta, PsyD

Emily Guarnotta, PsyD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and certified perinatal mental health professional with over 10 years of clinical experience.

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If you or someone you know struggles with substance use, help is available. Call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) to learn about resources in your area. For additional resources or to connect with mental health services in your area, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357. For immediate assistance, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988.